In his latest boxing column for JOE.ie, 
Brian Peters reflects on a potential KO of the Year at the Kings Hall in Belfast and the rise and fall respectively of two other Irish fighters.
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Boxing might be known as the “Sweet Scienceâ€, the art of hitting while not getting hit, but while many refuse to admit it, the fact that one boxer is capable of rendering another unconscious with a single blow is the underlying attraction for many in attending a live boxing event.
Perhaps it brings out a primeval instinct or bloodlust that most of us would like to suppress but the electricity generated amongst the crowd at Belfast’s Kings Hall recently when Paul McCloskey retained his European title courtesy of a spectacular one-punch KO was undeniable.
Thankfully his opponent Giuseppe Lauri made a quick recovery but it took just a single right hook from McCloskey in the eleventh round to bring about an abrupt halt to the Italian’s challenge. The video evidence speaks for itself and clearly when the KO of the year awards are being handed out in December McCloskey will be amongst the leading contenders.
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Last month’s event was my second time to promote at The King’s Hall – a venue steeped in boxing history. My first event there was John Duddy’s fight with Howard Eastman in December 2007 and the old hall proved once again for McCloskey-Lauri why it is one of the world’s great boxing venues.
Little seems to have changed there since that famous night in 1948 when local hero Rinty Monaghan lifted the world flyweight title with another spectacular KO of defending champion Jackie Patterson, before Monaghan – fresh from having claimed the title – regaled a full house with his own rendition of “When Irish eyes are smiling”.
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Irish eyes certainly weren’t smiling in Texas last weekend when the aforementioned Duddy suffered a setback with a points defeat to Mexico’s Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr. The loss leaves the Derryman’s career at a crossroads and puts him firmly in third place in terms of Ireland’s middleweight trio of Matthew Macklin, Andy Lee and John Duddy. I tried to make a fight between Lee and Duddy last year and while Andy was interested John’s team wanted to go in a different direction at the time.
I tipped you off to the potential of Cork based Cuban’s Mike Perez, Luis Garcia and Alexei Acosta in my first column and all three remain undefeated following wins in Cork last weekend. Acosta dispatched late sub Danile Enache inside a round to maintain his incredible record of 11 fights, 11 wins and 11 KO’s while Perez needed the same amount of time to see off American import Jason Barnett, who had previously gone five rounds with Audley Harrison.
Garcia was also in sensational form dispatching respected American veteran Demetrius Davis in three brutal rounds. In his previous fight Davis had ended the unbeaten run of touted German Arthur Hein and the win mean that Garcia, still just 22, is already ranked in the World’s top 30 despite having had just nine pro fights.
For Garcia, Perez and European number 3 Andy Murray the Cork promotion saw them rack up three wins apiece in just over six weeks. Cavan native Murray stopped Englishmen Amir Unsworth, Jon Baguley and Hungary’s Robert Laszlo Balogh to solidify his reputation as one of Europe’s rising stars and I think he will be ready for a European title shot before the end of the year.
Another man in action on the Cork undercard with European title ambitions was Willie “Big Bang†Casey. One of a family of 22, the Limerick man was having his first contest since winning the Prizefighter Super-Bantamweights event live on Sky in May and taking the €38,000 top prize in the process.
Now undefeated in nine pro fights with six KOs, the previously unheralded Casey has his eyes on the European title. Just three months ago that all appeared little more than a pipe dream but an impressive KO win in Canada over the Canadian champion Tyson Cave, followed up with that Prizefighter victory, means the sky’s the limit right now for the 28-year-old.
JOE SportsTube: Top Irish Knock-outs
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